HOW TO : Service your rear electric jacks

[John E Davies]

I covered a lot of info here, read this thread first please:

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4094-how-to-vip-3000-electric-stabilizer-jack-service/

FYI I used about 2/3 of a jar on two jacks, so a full one might be enough for all three.

I finally got around to doing the rear ones, it is not especially hard but it is a little nasty. For the tongue jack, I removed the entire head unit and took it to the workbench. It is possible to remove the head on these rear ones, if you don't mind cutting and re-splicing the power wires. I chose to do the job in situ, with a couple of foam pads to cushion my knees. I wore a headlamp so I could see better.

Loosen the three set screws a couple of turns, with a 3/16" Allen wrench. Once they are loose, the gearbox/ motor assembly can be swiveled around for better access to the top bolts; This is the CURB side one, the STREET side one has a lot more room around it:

Remove the four bolts, tap the side of the upper cover carefully with a soft mallet to break loose the gasket. If it doesn't tear, you can reuse it, be careful. Both rear gearboxes looked a lot like the tongue one, except that the grease had not hardened in these. It was however contaminated with metal particles. There was not nearly enough grease installed at the factory, and there was some obvious wear from "dry spots".

By lifting off the unit you can access the drive pin and the top of the jack screw.

Clean off all the old stuff there with paper towels and a light dash of a solvent like brake cleaner. Lube with CV-2:

Set the unit back in place and clean out the old glop. 

The top cover and big gear can be taken away and blasted hard with brake cleaner. Do NOT try that inside! Lube the bottom part. I used a small plastic piece as a trowel. Try to get the lube under the big gear and apply it liberally around the outside. Wipe off the gasket surface.

Be VERY careful not to lose the little stainless shim that goes against the small gear face. When you reinstall the gear,use grease to capture the shim.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

 

 

[John E Davies]

Grease the upper cover:

Set the gear and shim down over the lower part, align the gasket and install the cover and the four bolts. Tighten the three set screws firmly, be careful they are steel in aluminum. Clean off the top and make a record of the service:

Test the jack for proper operation and shift all your tools and stuff to the other side.

My street side gearbox looked very similar - too little lube, some gear wear:

Each jack took a couple of hours, most of that time was cleaning out the old contaminated grease. A future service might be a whole lot faster, you could just take a look and add some more CV-2 if needed. I do NOT recommend leaving the old white lithium grease in place, it will not mix well with the full synthetic, and you should get all those black metal particles out!.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Frank C]

Thanks for the tutorial John.   Very helpful.  The jacks are one of my next maintenance projects this summer.  

[Dave and Kimberly]

Nice job on the tutorial John!   Makes me want to at the very least, pop the cap off and add just a bit more grease right away while it's still new.  Hopefully avoid some of the metal specks before I eventually do clean it out and replace it with the better synthetic grease.

[John E Davies]

Keep in mind how these parts are made, most likely an unskilled worker has ten seconds to shoot a measured amount of lube in one place, then the gearbox goes on to the next station. They could not spend the required time needed to hand pack it properly. And think how much money they save by not using enough grease.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Geronimo John]

On 4/16/2022 at 5:41 AM, John E Davies said:

And think how much money they save by not using enough grease.

John Davies

They likely make even more by our having to replace them if we don't follow your lead!  

[Wanderers]

Nice write up John. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I will be done ng this job ASAP. 

Cheers,

PerryG

[Imelda]

John, good instructions. I am doing my rear jacks now so this is very helpful but I ran into a problem. On the street side rear jack there is not enough clearance of the fiber glass above to get the jack head off to grease it - see pic  the curb side was good and I got it greased even thought it took using a cheater bar on the allen wrench to get the recessed screws loosened.  They were so tight. Tongue jack was easy to do. 

Has anyone had this problem? It looked like they had a problem putting the jack on in the first place as there is a ding in the fiber glass. I don't think I can maneuver it out of there and I may have to take a rotary cutter and cut the fiber glass back by a small amount so I can get more clearance to get the top of the jack off to grease it.

 

Imelda

[Imelda]

So an update to my problem on no clearance to get the street side jack head off. I finally broke down and cut a 1/2 inch of the fiberglass using a rotary cutter so I could get the head off. see pic below. I had no problem with getting the curb side jack head off. I wonder if anyone else has had to do this? All jacks are now greased. 

[Jps190]

Just did my 2021 today and found the exact situation as John when I opened them up.

 

John

[Wayfinder]

I completed my rear jack inspection and re-greasing last week, finally.  Look like it was the first time since the jacks were installed at Oliver. Unlike @John E Davies my gearbox has no drive area, however, it was certainly time for new grease, no question. I gears looked brand new with no signs of heat strain (no brown areas).

I think it was @John E Davies or @SeaDawgwho mentioned to loosen the three Allan nuts under the gearbox in order to spin the passenger-side gearbox in order to get it around the edge of the  fiberglass edge.  It worked like a charm. Thanks!  I cleaned out as much old lithium grease and replaced it with fresh Mobilith SHC PM 460 White Lithium Complex Multipurpose Grease.  I even setup my phone to video record the sound and to check for any movement of the jacks under load.  I did not notice any movement, but I will double check the jack bolts that go through the frame. Others have reported them as loose as one full turn.

I cleaned the jack legs too and inspected for any damage.  They both looked with only road grime on them.  I coated with a dry lube and worked them up and down a couple times.  I forgot to take a pick of my grease job.  But, looked just like John's grease job, only white instead of red.  LOL

Also updated my maintenance log.  Don't forget to do that.